Therapists in Bates County, MO

I've provided therapy services for adults, teens, and children for over 8 years. I've found that the individuals who seem to flourish working with me are those who are particularly committed to understanding themselves and their struggles at a deeper level. I work to help facilitate meaningful insights and this often includes exploration of earlier relationships in a client's life. I believe that each person I work with is a unique and complex individual needing services tailored to them.

Knowing we can be loved exactly as we are gives us the best opportunity to grow into the healthiest people. I believe relational psychotherapy helps to restore hope and connection, even during seasons of immense pain and suffering. Having a place where you can be heard and feel known is essential while working through heavy feelings, emotions, thoughts, and processing difficult experiences. As therapy deepens, individuals I work with gain insight into presenting symptoms and patterns of behavior that initially brought them to see me.

I am a specialist who works with adults and teens ages 14+ on intense anxiety, trauma and complex trauma, dissociation, and personality disorders. My clients come in saying they feel numb and irritable or outright angry at the world. Many wonder if they have ADHD or are on the spectrum. On their worst days, they feel like they are in constant fight or flight mode and teetering on collapse. They want to be able to authentically connect with others and to feel peace and contentment, but are not sure how. Most importantly, my clients want to solve their problems, stop repetitive patterns, and move on with with their lives.

If you are a human person looking to improve and understand your experiences with living, I am here to help. Whether this is your first experience with counseling or you are well-seasoned in the ways of talk therapy, I'm glad you are exploring the idea. Counseling can and will help work through things like depression, anxiety, trauma, body image issues, relationship concerns, general dissatisfaction with life, and numerous other bumps in the road.

Life, laughter, and love are important to living life wholeheartedly, but psychological pain can get in the way. Abuse in the context of a close relationship or a family can create the most pervasive and persistent psych-ache, and may be passed from generation to generation. Whether the source of pain is past trauma, worry about the future, or even current jobs or relationships, I am here to help! I often see clients whose trauma began in domestic abuse in the forms of emotional, psychological, physical, sexual, or financial abuses.

My name is Kathy Alagna and I am a licensed therapist in Kansas City, Missouri. My passion is helping individuals with effective counseling and therapy. You may have arrived here because you want to make a change in your life, within yourself, or in your relationship. I believe I can help you because I specialize in facilitating changes and skills that lead to profound transformations. You have already taken the first step which is a great sign of strength. It takes courage, especially if you are new to counseling or therapy. I look forward to meeting you and providing a trusting, supportive, and empowering environment.

In a world full of judgment, we need someone we can be vulnerable with. We need someone we can talk to about the uncomfortable thoughts and emotions associated with fears and insecurities. We need someone we can bounce ideas off of to find perspective. In a world full of judgment, we need a nonjudgmental someone who can be kind, empathetic, and psychological educated to help us grow in self and life contentment. My 32 years of cosmetology and services industry work, along with my achievement of honors in both my BA and MA, has allowed me to build acceptance, wisdom, perspective, and awareness in my therapeutic approach.

My role as a therapist is to guide and facilitate the healing process of my clients as they return home to themselves. This “coming home” process involves attuning to our bodies as we befriend the wounded or exiled parts of our psyche, welcoming them back to the table and listening to what they have to say.

Check out our website for more details! I became a therapist because of a void that has existed for decades. A void that allowed black and brown people to be left to find sometimes inadequate ways of dealing with real mental health issues. As you search you will find very few people that look like me that are in profession of mental health. This is unfortunate. Although my caseload is hugely diverse, what comforts my clients is I represent what in my field is lacking...a representative from a disenfranchised group of people helping to build up the individual, repairing relationships and making families whole.

You are mighty as hell – you don’t feel it right now, but it’s in you. Life has thrown some heavy challenges your way, and this sense of overwhelm never seems to relent. Whether you are experiencing loss, relationship struggles, depression, anxiety or a combination of it all – I’m here for it. You deserve to feel whole and mentally well. Through a warm and supportive relationship, I will help you explore your experiences and complex emotions - and get you to a place of confidence where you are free to authentically pursue connection and fulfillment.

I see a variety of clients in various life situations and complexities, and I view the space you share with me an honor and privilege. It’s a big step in committing to understanding what's happening for you and reaching out for help. I respect your desire for understanding yourself and the situation you're in, for a deeper level of self-reflection, and a desire for implementing change. You're already doing hard work right now searching for the right fit, and in valuing personal growth and investing in yourself by reaching out. I look forward to connecting with you. I am committed to walking alongside of you every step of the way!

The decision to see a counselor may be intimidating or overwhelming. Sometimes we need to seek help outside family and friends. It is not easy to walk through the door and talk to a complete stranger. I want you to know, I have been where you are right now, and I hope you will reach out. I work with individuals who struggle with abandonment/trauma/abuse. I also work with couples who struggle with communication/infidelity/trust/conflict resolution. Investing in yourself and your relationships will be the most important investment of your lifetime.

We all deserve to experience meaningful shifts in our lives. It is a deeply rewarding feeling to see our efforts for positive change show up in our relationships with ourselves, with our loved ones, and with the world around us. It is my goal to be your trusted advocate—creating an emotionally safe space to listen, to encourage, to strengths-build, and to help co-create desired shifts.

What it’s like to come in for therapy? Therapy is about sharing vulnerability that you may not have experienced before, or at least not experienced positively before. We’re not friends, but we have a connection that we build that is professionally intimate and caring. Therapy is about analysis and making meaning of things that you have gone through and are presently dealing with. Sometimes that presents challenges to a person, things that are occurring with us are tough to look at and face- that’s why I’m here. I will help you look at things that are hard to take in and help you to either accept and appreciate or accept and change.

Whether you are struggling in your relationship, dealing with loneliness from the multiple issues we've dealt with the past year (pandemic, grief, trauma), or simply needing to process some things with someone objectively, I believe the therapeutic relationship can be a platform for deep transformation and continued growth.

The heart and soul of how I help others is as a counselor who meets clients where they are in life, relationships, struggles, and so on - with the goal of gaining your trust and helping move you through discouraging and challenging circumstances, while sharing in God's reality for your life. I believe in the value of working through personal problems and issues in the context of stronger relationships. I will help you with this on a personal level, and in the process of restoring health and relationships with whomever you are intending to build this restored relationship with.

Let's get you started in therapy! I look forward to the chance to get to know you and create an environment where you feel safe to be authentic and vulnerable. Therapy isn't supposed to be easy but it should be something that you look forward to (most days at least). I will do everything I can to get to know you and figure out what approach will work best for you!

My passion lies in working with adults, adolescents, and families. My experience has been working on a variety of issues including trauma, mood d/o, anxiety, self-exploration and understanding how our thinking affects our feelings and behavior. I enjoy assisting patients with identifying messages taken from life experiences that drive our choices and behavior in order to give each individual a better understanding of self. It is this understanding that brings awareness of habituated behavior patterns, effective communication skills and balance in our daily lives. Skills that are useful to patients outside of the therapeutic setting.

Personal conflict can cause chaos in your life, but the appropriate resolution can nurture healthy relationships and personal growth. If you are ready to dig in and do the hard work, together we can work towards the more peaceful and happy life you desire. We offer Substance use groups for adults and adolescents. We are Christian centered and use a variety of research-based therapeutic methods of counseling to find what works best for our clients. I believe therapy should be started with the end in mind, so our goal is to bring about peace and balance in a timely manner.